Production Team

in alphabetical order

Debby Anderson (Costume and Graphic Designer) first designed costumes for the Middlebury Community Players’ production of Chicago, followed by the country-western version of Twelfth Night. She has been costume designer for all of OCM’s twenty seasons, as well as designing the posters, program covers and other publicity materials. Debby learned early on that if she wanted to see her husband—the director—she had better join the production team.

Mary Jane Austin (Principal Pianist) enjoys a rich musical life in Vermont and abroad, where her interests range from recital work and fullscale opera productions to teaching and choral conducting. In addition to OCM, she works with many groups including the Mad River Chorale, Vermont Symphony Orchestra, Italian Opera Intensive, Youth Opera Workshop and Unadilla Theatre. She is on the faculties of Middlebury College, Dartmouth and Northern Vermont University. She led the pit in Town Hall Theater/Middlebury College’s productions of Sunday in the Park with George (2019) and The Light in the Piazza (2020).

Benjamin Beckman (YAP Pianist, FILLE/SCALA 2024) is a composer, conductor, and pianist based in Los Angeles. Compositional career highlights include performances on the BBC Proms and Tanglewood Music Festival and by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, and Yale Symphony Orchestra. His 70-minute chamber opera, Passage, won the Beekman Cannon Friends Prize for the best-submitted thesis in the music major at Yale, from which he recently matriculated. As a pianist and vocal coach, Beckman has worked for the Sarasota Opera, Chicago Summer Opera, Classic Lyric Arts France, and extensively with the Opera Theater of Yale College, of which he served as Artistic Director.

Elinor Steele Friml (Scenic Artist) has worn many hats in theater and the arts in Middlebury and beyond. She designed over 30 sets for the Middlebury Community Players since 1983 and has worked as Scenic Artist for most OCM productions. She is an award-winning designer/weaver of contemporary tapestries for home, corporate and healthcare settings nationwide. She recently retired from her job as Town Hall Theater Box Office Manager, but continues to serve as the Jackson Gallery Director.

Dora Greven (Stage Technician) has been involved with theater since her very early years. It has always been one of her favorite ways to express her creativity and has allowed her to develop confidence and friends. Her resume includes over 120 shows with the Opera Company of Middlebury, MIddlebury Community Players and other companies in Addison County, encompassing every role imaginable—onstage and off. She has been on the MCP board for nearly 20 years, and Board president since 2012.

Tim Joy (Videographer) is a Producer, Director, Editor, Composer, Pilot, Audio Engineer, and Inventor who grew up wanting to be a rock star. Playing music and listening to others play was his passion—everything from Jazz, Classical, and Reggae; to Rock, Electronic, and Funk. Although he did lead a band for a few years, it was the audio engineering side of it that excited him most. He ventured to Hollywood and studied Music, Theater, and Audio Engineering, where he then served as studio tech and recording engineer for composer Joel Goldsmith, most known for scoring the TV series, Stargate SG-1. Under his wing, Tim honed his skills as recording engineer, composer, and computer tech. In 2001, he founded Projection Films and began making short films, working as a production sound mixer and boom operator, and flying model helicopters with cameras strapped to them. Since relocating to Vermont in 2007, he has produced and directed over 20 short films, made dozens of videos, commercials, and graphic animations, while continuing to compose music and work as an audio engineer. As an amateur machinist and hobby inventor, Tim enjoys designing and building new filmmaking tools and “flying cameras.” Visit Tim’s website for Projection Films at: Projectionfilms.com

Buzz Kuhns (Technical Director) has been working behind the scenes with several local theater companies for years, but is humbled and a bit daunted by the thought of walking in the footsteps of OCM’s long-time technical director Bill Friml. He is grateful for the opportunity, and for Bill’s friendly support.

George Lane (Assistant Director of YAP’s SCALA & YAP Intern 2024) is a young soprano studying early childhood education and music at Wheaton College in Massachusetts. They have been involved with opera since 2018 and have had the opportunity to sing with the Youth Opera Company of OCM in productions such as Die Fledermaus, Le nozze di Figaro, and Dido and Aeneas. They made their professional debut in The Magic Flute with Barn Opera. They are excited to learn and intern with the Young Artist Program at the Opera Company of Middlebury.

Nathaniel Lew (Assistant Conductor/Chorus Master, FILLE 2024) Choral conductor and musicologist Nathaniel G. Lew is Artistic Director of the Counterpoint Vocal Ensemble, based in Montpelier, and Professor of Music and Director of the Honors Program at St. Michael’s College in Colchester. Before coming to Vermont, during a decade spent in the Bay Area, he directed Ars Subtilior Medieval Vocal Ensemble, Vox Populi Renaissance Vocal Ensemble, the UC Berkeley Chorus, the Chorus of Festival Opera of Walnut Creek, and the Choir of Montclair Presbyterian Church in Oakland, and sang with the Philharmonia Chorale and Volti. Raised in New York, he studied at the Juilliard School, Yale University, and the University of Cambridge, and received a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. He has edited and adapted several scores by Ralph Vaughan Williams for publication, and in 2016 published the book Tonic to the Nation: Making English Music in the Festival of Britain. He is a member of the board of Choral Arts New England.

Andy Papas (YAP Guest Stage and Co-Artistic Director, FILLE 2024) Praised for his “vocal power and finesse” & “irresistible hijinks,” Andy Papas is sought after for his impeccable musicianship and mastery of comic repertoire on both operatic and theatrical stages. He has been contributing & educating in performing arts organizations across the continent for over 15 years, and most recently was Assistant Director for The Pirates of Penzance with Southern New Hampshire’s Raylynmor Opera (where he also played the Major General). Andy is an instructor for the Keene State CALL program and for Adult Education programs around Boston, where he has taught signature classes such as And The Tony Award Goes To…,The British Operas Are Coming! and The United States of Opera. He has led masterclasses at Oklahoma State University, OCM, and The University of Central Oklahoma, and recent private voice students have gone on to pursue BFA degrees at Syracuse University, Emerson College, and The Chicago College of Performing Arts. Andy currently serves as Talent Manager & Assistant Music Director in the New England Region for Boston based Songful Artists. Previous positions include Performance Liaison for Madison, WI based Opera for the Young, and as Music Director of Lower Camp at The Buckingham Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge, MA. Noteworthy recent onstage engagements for Andy include Bartolo in The Barber of Seville with Anchorage Opera, the title role in Don Pasquale for Opera Saratoga, Owen/Johnson in OMAR at the Ojai Music Festival, and Mr. Bumble in Oliver at The New Repertory Theatre. He first sang with OCM in L’Italiana in Algieri, and has also appeared in Cendrillon (Pandolfe) & Orphée aux Enfers (John Styx).

Opera coach and conductor Alejandro Roca’s (Music Director of Young Artist Program, FILLE/SCALA 2024) recent engagements include productions of The Marriage of Figaro, The Barber of Seville, Gianni Schicchi, Master Peter’s Puppet Show, and debuts with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra and the Cláudio Santoro National Theater Orchestra in Brazil. Roca has collaborated with renowned conductors as Rinaldo Alessandrini, Gustavo Dudamel and Andrés Orozco-Estrada and has appeared in recital around the world and recorded music by several Latin American composers. Roca serves as Lecturer in Music/Opera Coach at the Yale School of Music. He previously served as Director of the Opera Workshop at Central University (Bogota), at Scuola Italia’s summer program for opera singers (Italy), as a conductor and pianist at the Opera of Colombia, and his repertoire includes more than 70 fully prepared operas. Roca earned his master in orchestral conducting from the National University of Colombia and his bachelor in piano performance from the Antonio Maria Valencia Conservatory. He also pursued postgraduate studies at Liceu Conservatory in Barcelona. 

Courtney Smith (Lighting Designer) is a scenic, lighting, and media design technician for live performance. He is currently the Production Designer for the Department of Theatre at Middlebury College and the Production/Company Manager for The Dogteam Theatre Project. Courtney’s designs have received several Meritorious Achievement Awards from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Additionally, his work received a “Distinguished Achievement Award in Scenic Design” from the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.

Kate Tilton (Properties) has enjoyed fabricating, finding and finagling props for many shows from The Pearl Fishers through Fidelio with OCM, Middlebury Community Players, and Middlebury Actor Company. She had her directorial debut with MCP’s Black Comedy. Kate is fond of learning about opera while “propping up the show” from behind scenes.

Driven by his belief in sincerity and companionship in music making, New York-based pianist Yihao Zhou (Pianist/Rehearsal Pianist, FILLE 2024) has appeared as a recitalist at Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, Music Academy of the West, New York Festival of Song, Round Top Festival Institute, and SongFest, among others. Mr. Zhou is currently on the accompanying staff at The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music, from both of which he earned graduate degrees in collaborative piano.